Buyers of steel rebar and billet in the United Arab Emirates preferred to wait before placing new orders because of uncertainty about prices during the week ended Tuesday June 8, sources have told Fastmarkets.Local rebar producers were expected to announce new prices next week.Local retail prices for rebar were currently lower than those offered by local producers. In any case, most buyers have hi...Read More
London Metal Exchange ring dealing members have a decision to make - whether to remain one or not.The LME has just announced it will reopen the open outcry trading floor, which was temporarily closed due to Covid-19, on September 6.Its plan, however, comes with a twist; some ring dealers say, a knife.The official prices - which the global trade and industry use as the global reference for physical...Read More
London Metal Exchange ring dealing members have a decision to make - whether to remain one or not.The LME has just announced it will reopen the open outcry trading floor, which was temporarily closed due to Covid-19, on September 6.Its plan, however, comes with a twist; some ring dealers say, a knife.The official prices - which the global trade and industry use as the global reference for physical...Read More
Imports of used beverage can (UBC) scrap and industrial aluminium scrap into the United States rose 9.49% month on month to 36,990 short tons in April from 33,784 tons in March, according to the most recent data from the US Census Bureau.The United States imported 24,287 tons of UBC scrap in April, up 1.52% from 23,924 tons in March, of which 10,283 tons (or...Read More
The London Metal Exchange will enhance its off-warrant stock reporting, including limiting the warranting of metal that has not previously been disclosed in off-warrant stock reports, the exchange said on Tuesday June 8.The responses to the LME's discussion paper were generally supportive of the exchange taking a greater physical market role with respect to the off-warrant stock report, the LME sa...Read More
The London Metal Exchange's electronic trading system is up to the job of discovering closing prices with any misalignments to be ironed out via a volume-weighted average price (VWAP) methodology, chief executive officer Matthew Chamberlain said. LMESelect's technical functionality had been considered in great detail by the exchange board, acknowledging that outright three-month prices work well e...Read More
A rise in Covid-19 cases in China's Guangdong province in recent weeks has led to tighter controls and rigorous testing at the huge Yantian International Container Terminal (YICT), causing extended delays in southern China.YICT is one of China's busiest container ports, handling around 13 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) each year, according to The Maritime Executive news website.Althoug...Read More
Sherritt International has deferred its planned full-facility maintenance shutdown of its nickel-cobalt refinery in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, to August from the previously scheduled June to mitigate the risk of Covid-19 on employee and contractor health and safety, the company said. The full-facility shutdown occurs every six years, will last around 11 days, and will include all of the refinery...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in China's domestic market fell slightly on Tuesday June 8, with the futures prices extending their decline in the morning before clawing back some losses in the afternoon.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,450-5,520 yuan ($853-864) per tonne, widening by 10-50 yuan per tonne.The most-traded HRC futures contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange touched a one-week low of 5,1...Read More
Hot-rolled coil import prices to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia were mostly stable during the week to Tuesday June 8, but cold-rolled coil prices decreased and the hot-dipped galvanized coil import price spreads to the UAE widened, sources told Fastmarkets.The main reason for the decrease in CRC prices was low prices from China, market participants said.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessm...Read More
Several provinces in China have been hit by power cuts in the past two months due to electricity shortages and energy controls, resulting in reduced production and price fluctuations for metals and ferro-alloys, including aluminum, zinc, silicon metal, ferro-chrome and silico-manganese. Supply of thermal power, the major method of power generation in the country, has been affected after coal price...Read More
Export offers for Chinese rebar to South Korea have strengthened in the past week on expectations of good demand from the East Asian country.Offers for Chinese rebar produced according to South Korean standards were made at $900 per tonne cfr South Korea on a theoretical weight basis during the week, narrowing upward by $20 per tonne from $880-900 per tonne cfr in the preceding week.Participants i...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were slightly higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 4 points in pre-opening trade. The Canadian Dollar was quiet at US82.78 cents prior to news from the Bank of Canada. Its overnight lending rate for Canada's major banks to be announced at 10:00 AM EDT is expected to remain unchanged at 0.25%.UPS (UPS $209.76) is expected to open higher after the company raised...Read More
The export prices of hot-rolled coil from the Commonwealth of Independent States fell during the week to Monday June 7 on new sales and uncertainty in the global market due to a lack of clarity on the imposition of an export tax on steel in China, sources said.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel hot-rolled coil, export, fob Black Sea, CIS was $995-1,020 per tonne on June 7, down from $1...Read More
Ferrous scrap exports from the United States increased by a marginal 1.07% month on month in April, according to the latest data from the US Census Bureau.Ferrous scrap exports totaled 1.63 million in April, compared with 1.61 million tonnes in March and almost 1.36 million tonnes in February.Exports to Turkey, usually the United States' biggest customer, dropped by more than half month over month...Read More
Trafigura's head of metals and minerals, Amin Zahir, is leaving the trading company, Fastmarkets heard on Tuesday June 8.The move will mean that Trafigura's metal unit heads - Kostas Bintas, Socrates Economou, Philippe Muller and Gonzalo De Olazaval - will report directly to chief executive officer Jeremy Weir, who himself has a background in metals.Trafigura made record profits last...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories from Tuesday June 8 that are worth another look.A rise in Covid-19 cases in China's Guangdong province in recent weeks has led to tighter controls and rigorous testing at the huge Yantian International Container Terminal (YICT), causing extended delays...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories from Tuesday June 8 that are worth another look.A rise in Covid-19 cases in China's Guangdong province in recent weeks has led to tighter controls and rigorous testing at the huge Yantian International Container Terminal (YICT), causing extended delays...Read More
Mexican ferrous scrap prices continued to increase during the week ended Friday June 4, with demand for steel and raw materials remaining strong.Some scrap buyers accepted price adjustments to their buying prices for certain grades, with sellers using higher-priced deals to leverage negotiations with buyers who insisted on lower prices. As a result, more deals were reported at higher lev...Read More
The current upward momentum in pricing in the steel market should continue in the third quarter with support from short supply and solid demand, buoying an already optimistic market, the International Rebar Producers & Exporters Association (Irepas) said on June 4.EuropeRebar prices reached new highs during the second quarter of 2021 on support from long lead times, strong demand and limited impor...Read More